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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  IVIicroreproductions  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


1980 


Technical  Notes  /  Notes  techniques 


The  Gnstitute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copv  available  for  filming.  Physical 
features  of  this  copy  which  may  alter  any  of  the 
images  in  the  reproduction  are  checked  below. 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  it6  possible  de  se  procurer.  Certains 
d6fauts  susceptibles  de  nuire  A  la  quality  de  la 
reproduction  sont  not6s  ci-dessous. 


D 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couvertures  de  couieur 


D 


Coloured  pages/ 
Pages  de  couieur 


D 


Coloured  maps/ 

Cartes  gdographiques  en  couieur 


D 


Coloured  plates/ 
Planches  en  couieur 


D 


Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pages  d6color6es,  tachetdes  ou  piqudes 


D 


Show  through/ 
Transparence 


D 


Tight  binding  (may  cause  shadows  or 
distortion  along  interior  margin)/ 
Reliure  serr6  (peut  causer  de  Tombra  ou 
de  la  distortion  le  long  de  la  marge 
int6rieure) 


D 


Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagies 


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Additional  comments/ 
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Bibliographic  Notes  /  Notes  bibliographiques 


n 


Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 


Bound  with  other  material/ 
Relid  avec  d'autres  documents 


Pagination  incorrect/ 
Erreurs  de  pagination 


Pages  missing/ 
Des  pages  manquent 


D 
D 


Cover  title  missing/ 

Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 


Plates  missing/ 

Des  planches  manquent 


Maps  missing/ 

Des  cartes  gdographiques  manquent 


D 


Additional  comments/ 
Commentaires  supplimentaires 


The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Las  images  suivantes  ont  AtA  reproduites  avec  te 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  at 
de  la  netteti  de  I'exemplaire  filmA,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
fllmaga. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche  shall 
contain  the  symbol  -^  (meaning  CONTINUED"), 
or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"),  whichever 
applies. 


Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaltra  sur  la  der- 
niAre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le  cas: 
le  symboie  — ►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le  symbole 
V  signifie  "FIN". 


The  original  copy  was  borrowed  from,  and 
filmed  with,  the  kind  consent  of  the  following 
institution: 

National  Library  of  Canada 


L'exemplaire  film6  fut  reproduit  grfice  A  la 
g6nArositA  de  I'itablissement  prAteur 
suivant  : 

BibliothAque  nationale  du  Canada 


Maps  or  plates  too  large  to  be  entirely  included 
in  one  exposure  are  filmed  beginning  in  the 
upper  loft  hand  corner,  left  to  right  and  top  to 
bottom,  as  many  frames  as  required.  The 
following  diagrams  illustrate  the  method: 


Les  cartes  ou  les  planches  trop  grandes  pour  dtre 
reproduites  en  un  seul  clich6  sont  filmdes  d 
partir  de  Tangle  supdrieure  gauche,  de  gauche  d 
droite  et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  ndcessaire.  Le  diagramme  suivant 
illustre  la  mdthode  : 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

BULLETIN  OF  THE  GEOLOGICAL  SOCIETY   OF  AMERICA 

Vol.  9,  pp.  369-390 


ON  THE  OCCURRENCE  OP  MAMMOTH   AND   MASTODON 
REMAINS  AROUND  HUDSON  BAY 


BV 


ROBERT  BELL 


ROCHESTER 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  SOCIETY 

Junk,  1898 


BULLETIN   OF  THE  GEOLOGICAL  SOCIETY  OF  AMERICA 
Vol.  9,  pp.  369-390  June  22,  i898 


ON   THE  OCCriMlKNCK   OF   M.VM.MOTH    AND    MASTODON 
HKMAINS  AROUND  HUDSON  BAY 

MY    ISOBKUT    niCM- 


{Head  hej'ore  lite  Societij  Dcremher  20,  1807) 

CONTKNTS 

Iiitrodiictioii 370 

Till'  (ict'iiri'ciii'c  <if  a  iiiaiiiiiiotli  tooth  on  tlu>  east  coast  of  HikIhoi)  Imy 370 

<»|iiiiioiis  of  Professors  \V.  IJoyd  Dawkins  ami   V,.  D.  Copo  timt  it  bi'longed  to 

I'lli  jiliii.<  ciiliinilii 37 1 

Toolli  of  {•!.  rnhniilii  foiiml  near  Ivliiioiitoii,  011  tlu'  N'mtli  Saskatcliowan  river.  372 
Keiiiains  of  inainiiiotii  aixi  otiier  iiiaiiiinals  foiiiiil  near  tlie  iiioiitli  of  tlie  Mc- 

Keii/.ie  river  aixl  on  the  l'orfii|(iiie  ami  Yukon  rivtMs I>7.'{ 

Itelics  of  tiu"  i)isc(i)  ami  reiiuieer  in  tlie  Klondike  district .373 

Short  sketch  of  the  ^jeiiloyiical  history  of  the  mastodon  and  the  nianinioth    .  . .    374 

The  four  species  of  fossil  elephants  of  Kiirope .374 

Prohahle  specific  identity  of  the  inanimoth  and  the  existinj,' elephant  of  India.  37."> 

Causes  of  the  extinction  of  species  in  the  case  of  nianiiiials ',\~'t 

lke;.'ional  nii^iralionsiif  the  inamnioth  and  of  certain  livinj;  nortliern  nuuinnal.«.  ;i7<) 

I'rohahilily  of  annual  niiyrralion  of  the  inanimoth  in  Siberia .377 

( 'anses  of  till'  extinction  of  the  iiiainiiioth  in  Siheria ;>77 

Kxaniple  of  wholesale  death  of  reindeer  in  Xortii  .\nierica .t7H 

The  preservation  of  carcassi's  of  niainnioths  in  Siheria .37!l 

I'rohahle  reason  of  the  ahnndance  of  niainniolh  hones  in  (hiviatile  deposit.H  in 

Siheria 37t» 

linprolialile  theories  as  to  the  last  two  siihiects   ;!7it 

Food  of  the  iiiaiiiiiioth   -his  w  ide  ;:eoi.'rapliii'al  rany;e   380 

Woolly  coat.«  of  this  and  some  other  northern  nianinials 3S0 

The  disajipearance  of  llu'  nianinioth  from  ICiirope 381 

The  extinction  of  the  niamiiioth  in  North  America 381 

Inferences  from  the  lenirth  ainl  cnivatnre  of  the  tusks  of  the  nianinioth 382 

The  occurrence  of  mastodon  reiniiins  near  thesoutheiii  extremity  of  .lames  hay.  38.3 
Characters,  extent,  elevatinii,  eti-elera.  of  the  PU'islucene  deposits  southwest 

of  .lames  hay 383 

Numerous  seams  of  intertflacial  liirnite  in  the  distrit-t  where  the  niastodorj  jaw 

and  tooth  were  found .'[.s.") 

I'rohahle  period  wlu-n  the  niastoilon  lived  in  the  rejrion  of  .lanies  hay   .387 

Mastodon  hones  found  on  Shell  river,  in  Manitoha .387 

Identilication  of  these  hones  and  paiticulars  as  to  tlieir  occurrence 388 

LV-Hn.I..    (iKl.l,.    Sim.     \>t.,    V.il..   !l,    INIIT  (3t>!() 


HTO       |{.   IJKI.I, —  in  |)S(»N    HAY    MAMMOTH     AND    MASTODON    HKMAINS. 

Pcscriptiiiii  of  flu'  (IcpositH  in  wliicli  tlicv  were  fiumil   iSSS 

Various  liiscovi-iii-H  n(  iiminiiinlli  and   niastnilmi   ii-inaiiis  in  tttiuT  paits  of 
Canada 'M\f 


IXTHDOIUTION 


III  the  followinji  paper  on  the  discovery  of  the  remains  of  l)otii  the 
nianimolh  ami  the  inast()«h)n  around  Hudson  liay  it  is  proposed  to  jiive 
a  short  aeeount  oi'  tin;  j^eolojiieal  surroun(hn<fs  of  eaeh  ot"  these  discov- 
eries, and  to  refer  very  hrielly  to  theconse(|iient  extension  of  our  knowl- 
edfje  of  tlie  jieo^ra phi c;d  nuiufc  of  l>otii  species  over  a  vast  area,  and  also 
to  iu)tiee  some  of  the  (|Uestioiis  which  they  suj^ijest,  such  as  those  relat- 
iiifi;  to  the  climates  of  the  rej^ions  in  which  these  animals  tlourished,  the 
fjeolo^rical  dates  when  they  lived  in  the  old  and  the  new  worlds,  their 
{general  ;ieoi:raphical  distrihution,  mijrrations,  causes  of  their  extinction, 
aiul  other  matters  of  j^eological  imi)ortaiu'e  concerning  them. 

TlIK    (^CXUKKKNCK    OK    A    MaMMOTII     TooTII     ON     TIIK    KAST   CoAST   OK 

Hudson  1>av 

In  1S77  i  made  a  geolo^qcal  exploration  of  tin?  east  side  of  Hudson 
hay.  I  n  the  followiuii  year  a  remarUaWh'  molar  tooth  of  a  mammoth 
was  picked  up  on  the  ntcky  surfaceof  Long  island  and  sent  to  me.  '{"his 
island  is  narrow,  thirty  miles  in  leiiirtli.and  lies  m-ar  the  Ivistmaiii  coast, 
its  soulhwestern  extremity  heinu  iust  north  of  cape  .lones.  which  is  tlic; 
point  where  James  hay  opei  'Oto  Hudson  hay  propi-r.     It  is  com- 

posed of  almost  hare  rock  and  has  a  ridi;c  of  hasalt  runninjj;  down  its 
center.  Althou<,di  it  is  south  of  the  limit  of  tindter  on  the  mainland,  no 
trees  t^row  upon  the  island  itself.  At  the  time  when  mammoths  lived 
upon  the  island  it  must  have  heen  more  or  less  wooded  in  order  to  fur- 
nish food  for  them,  and,  from  our  knowledge  of  the  uprisintr  of  the  land 
in  this  region  in  IMeistocene  times,  it  pn)hahly  stood  at  a  lowi-r  level,  and 
would  tluM'efore  he  of  smaller  size. 

I'holographs  showing  this  tooth  in  dillerent  positions  were  sent  to  Pro- 
fessor W.  Uoyd  Dawkins.  who  had  made  a  spei'ial  study  of  fossil  ele- 
phants, and  to  i'rofessor  K.  D.  Cope,  with  re([Uests  for  their  det-isions  as 
to  the  species  to  whic^h  it  heloiiged,     'I'he  following  are  their  replies  : 

"  W'ooDiii  list',   K.\i.i.(i\\i-ii:i,i>,   Man»iik.h'I'1':i!,   lolh  .Inhi,   ISS2. 
"The  very  inten'siiiii;  s|u'ciriii'n  is  a  worn  stnni|)  of  an  niipci-  molar  iit-ionjiintf 
to  KU  Ilium  ciilitiiilii,  an  animal  w  iiiiii,  in  my  ln-lief,  is  one  of  tiie  varietie.4of  tlie  stock 


0(f"ri{l!K.Vf'K   ON    KAST    COAST. 


:571 


from  wliicli  the  iniunnujtli,  Iiuliaii  t*lt'i)liant,  ainl  A.',  iirim  iiinriin  lmv»'  heoii  ilt-rivetl. 
Tln'  slump  is  wumlerfiilly  like  some  <>f  tlic  mammotli's  in  my  ccillfftidii,  lint  it  Ih 
iitiniiwfi'. 

"  (Si^neil)  \V.   ituvi-  Dawkinh." 

"  I'liii.AiiKi.i'mA,    />((•.   Will,  IHSS. 
"  I  liavi'  never  seen  a  tDutli  wliirii  pn'siMits  all  tlic  in'cnliaritifs  of  tiiis  one,  l»it 
eacii  of  its  cliaracti'rs  can  be  fouml  separate  in  dilferent  teetli  of  the  mamiiiotli. 
It  is  prolialily  a  last  deciilnniis  molar  of  a  variety  between  the  typical  A',  jirimiijr- 
II i UK  nni\  the  smooth-plateil  E.  ciihtiiihl. 

"  (Sij;ne<i)  K.   D.  Copk." 


Ehplmx  roJiniihi  of  I)r  lliitrli  Faleor.er,  to  which  this  luohir  l)t'l()nj^.s, 
:UH'oi«lintf  to  I'fofessors  W.  Hoyd  I)a\vkiiis  and  K.  I).  Cope,  has  heeii  fctund 
on  the  I'acilie  coast  of  Ahiska.'^     Kalcoiier  only  knew  of  its  t'eniains  in 


Kk.iiik  l.  —  Mnliir  i)f  KIi  jihii^  niliniilii  froiii  Litiiij  Islami.  l[inln,ii  fliiii.     ('.^  iiiiliinil  si/.c.) 

the  more  southern  of  the  United  States  and  Mexico;  hut  the  present 
discovery,  and  that  of  a  siniihir  niohir.  near  Edmonton,  N.  W.  'P.,  taken 
in  connection  with  its  occurrence  in  Ahiska,  shows  that  its  range  in  North 
America  was  even  more  extensive  than  that  of  K.  primlfirniiix.  ('onsi<ler- 
inji  how  very  rare  tlie  discovery  of  elepliantine  remains  of  any  kind  has 
hitherto  heen  overall  that  great  portion  of  the  continent  between  Hering 
strait  and  the  vicinity  of  lake  Erie,  we  may  reasonahl}'  expect  that  among 

♦  HillU'tili  of  tlip  U.  S.  Ucol.  Survey,  im.  H4.  18'.t2. 


:>72      R.  BKM. —  iriDSON    HAY    >rAMMnTII    ANI>    MASTOhoS    I5KMAINS. 

future  discoveries  of  such  renuiiiis  in  tins  vast  riitcrval  some  at  least  will 
prove  to  l)elon<^  to  K.  cohiitihi. 

Hotii  /v.  ciiliniilii  and  I'j.  priiiihii'DhiM  may  liavo  retreated  sontliward  in 
Ameriea  on  account  of  the  increasing  severity  of  the  cliniate,  as  did  tiie 
moose  and  the  hison,  or  without  any  sullicient  chant:c  in  this  respect, 
havinj^  i)eoome  accustomed  to  the  itetter  climate  which  they  t'oniid  to  the 
south,  they  ahaiidoned  tlu^  northern  rojiions  altojicther.  it  is  to  he  noted 
that  the  invasion  of  North  America  hy  mammoths  was  iVom  nortii  to 
s<)Uth,  or  in  the  opposite  direction  from  the  invasion  of  SiWeria.  and  tliis 
circumstance  may  have  made  an  important  ditl'ercnce  as  to  the  charac- 
ter of  their  sul)se(juent  movements  on  the  two  continents  and  as  to  the 
latitudes  in  which  they  survivc(l  the  loufxest  in  the  respective  rctiions. 

Dr  llujih  Kalconer.  who.  with  ample  materials  at  his  command,  nave 
the  sui)ject  very  careful  study.  rcjj;ards  this  elephant  not  as  a  variety  of 
K.  ]>riiiii(f('aiits,  hut  as  helon<!;ing  to  a  decidedly  diHerent  species,  its  oc- 
currence on  Hudson  hay  is  of  mudi  interest  and  opens  up  various  ijues- 
ti<ins.  not  only  as  to  the  <i;eoLj;raphical  ran<fi'  of  the  species,  hut  also  in 
regard  to  former  climatic  conditions  of  that  region  and  the  dislrihulion 
of  land  and  water  at  a  comparatively  recent  piMiod  which  would  result 
from  the  former  levels  of  diilerent  parts  of  the  continent. 

'{"he  accompanying  figure  ( 1)  will  enahle  those  who  are  critically  versed 
in  such  matters  to  judge  for  themselves  as  to  the  sjieciesof  maunuoth  to 
winch  this  molar  l)eK»nge(l. 

.Mammoth  Tootfi  koit.nd  nkau  Edmo.nton 

'I'wo  or  three  years  ago  an  incomplete  molar,  which  appears  to  helong 
to  Klcj^hd.-i  cohnnlii,  was  foimd  in  the  suiierlicial  deposits  in  one  of  the 
hanks  of  the  North  Saskatchewan  river,  al)out  six  miles  al)ove  Edmon- 
ton, hut  no  particulars  in  reference  to  the  discovery  are  availahle.  The 
specimen  is  in  the  museum  of  the  (Jeological  Survey  at  Ottawa.  The 
Saskatchewan  at  Edmonton  has  an  altitude  of  ahout  "i.'JOO  feet  al»ove 
the  sea.  Tiie  surroumling  district  is  a  line  agricultural  country,  with  a 
deep  covering  of  till,  overlaid  in  parts  with  stratilied  sands,  gravels,  and 
clays,  all  having  a  rolling  surface. 

Elkpmaxt  Hkmains  i.\  tiik  fau  Northwkst 

It  has  long  heen  known  that  mammoth  remains  exist  in  several  ])laces 
in  the  far  northwestern  regions  of  North  America.  Dall  mentions  the 
occurrence  of  hones  and  tusks  of  these  animals  on  the  lower  Yukon 


(«•(  rUKKNCK    IN    THK    lAK    NoKTIIWKST.  373 

river,  and  a  few  years  ajjo  some  of  their  remains  were  i)urc;liase<l  fi»r  tlie 
niMseuin  of  tin- (ieolo^ical  Survey  at  Ottawa  from  Mr  V.  Mercier.  who 
had  lirought  them  t'rom  soiiu;  jdace  on  this  river  within  tlie  Ahiskan 
hoiUKhiry.  The  late  Mr  l{ol)ert  ('ani|»I>ell,  of  the  Hudson's  Hay  Com- 
pany's serviee,  with  whom  I  liave  conversed  on  the  subjeet,  tohl  me  that 
lie  had  found  ehiphant  hones  in  a  river  hank  near  the  junetion  of  the 
Lewis  and  Pelly  to  form  the  Yukon.  Out-  of  thest^  Imncs  was  sent  to 
Knirhmd  and  idfiuilied  hy  Sir  .lolin  ilich;\rdson  as  helon<j;in^  to  Kl*ii/i(ts 
/)///(//7^/(/''«  (HhinuMihach).  ThehiteMr  Kichard  llardistyand  tlie  olli- 
cers  of  the  IFudson's  Hay  Compan}'  have  informed  inc  that  in  passinjj 
aloiiij  Hat  river,  a  small  tributary  of  the  MeKenzie  on  the  west  side  of 
its  delta,  tlu^  Hell  river,  a  hraneh  of  tlu!  Porcupine,  and  alon^j  this  stream 
itseifthey  have  seen  in  various  places  ltoiu>s  of  cU-phants  projectiii>:  from 
the  clay  or  other  superficial  de|»o.sits  forming  the  hanks.  Mr  llardisty 
.said  that  in  the  vicinity  of  these  rivers  he  had  frequently  seen  skulls  of 
the  musk-ox  (often  called  '■  hullMlo  "  in  the  far  north)  lying  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  ground,  mostly  in  swamps  and  partly  covered  with  moss. 
This  aniniiii  is  not  now  found  living  west  of  the  MeKenzie  river,  al- 
though it  is  (piite  coiiiiuon  over  tiie  great  region  to  the  eastward  of  it  as 
far  as  Hudson  hay  and  thence  acro.ss  the  large  islands  lying  to  the  north- 
eastward, which  carry  its  range  to  nortlicrn  (Ireenland.  Its  desertion  of 
the  country  west  of  the  MeKenzie  river  is  one  of  those  instances  of  the 
long-period  or  the  tinal  regitmal  migrations  of  the  larger  mammals  which 
have  not  yet  heen  satisfactorily  accounted  for. 

The  late  venerable  .\rchdeacon  U.  McDoumM,  whom  the  writer  has 
had  the  pleasure  of  meetin<r  in  the  MeKenzie  valley,  some  years  ago  pre- 
sented to  the  Hritish  .Museum  bones  of  the  mannuoth,  the  horse,  and  the 
musk-ox.  1  have  ol)tained  from  York  factory,  on  the  west  side  of  Hud- 
son bay,  tlirough  the  kindness  of  l)r  Percy  Mathews,  part  of  the  skull  of 
a  horse  which  was  found  there  half  embedded  in  the  soil  ;  but  this  dis- 
covery may  have  no  geological  significance,  as  it  possil)ly  belonged  to 
a  domestic  horse,  although  I  could  not  hear  of  any  of  these  animals 
having  ever  been  landed  at  this  place,  although  cattle  for  the  Red  River 
.settlement  and  for  local  use  have  been  imported  to  this  estaldishmeiit 
from  Kngland. 

Mr  William  Ogilvie  obtained  during  the  present  year  twt)  horns  of  the 
existing  l)ison  (which  I  have  seen)  from  the  auriferous  gravels  of  Honanza 
and  Elilorado  creeks,  in  Klondike  district  of  the  Yukon  near  the 

intersection  of  the  one  humlred  and  forty-tirst  meridian.  From  the  .same 
gravels  he  also  obtained  some  coniferous  wood  and   part  of  a  skull  and 


;J7  I     H.  liKi.i, — irrnsoN  it.w  mammoth  axi»  mastodon  ukmaixs. 

|)art  of  iiii  iintlcr  of  the  rfiinl(H>r.     TIm!  r;infic  of  tlic  liisoii   in  nutdern 
times  has  not  come  witliiii  stivcnil  liuiidrfil  miles  of  this  district. 

(iKOLrKilCAl,    IflSToKY    OK   TIIK    M.\STO|)o.\    AND    MaMMOTII 

'I'lic  ('l('|iliiint  fiunily  mjidc  its  (irst  ;i|i|i(!araiicc  in  the  .Mio<'(;n(!  period 
in  .soutliciistcrn  Asia.  Tlu!  earliest  of  tin;  true  l'roi»oscidea  were  (l)  the 
Stej^odons,  which  were  the  ancestors  of  the  mastodons,  the  mamni(»tlis, 
and  the  In<liau  elephant,  and  (2)  the  l>o.\o(h»ns,  the  ancesti>rs  of  certain 
fo.ssil  elephants  of  Kurop(!  and  also  of  the  African  elephant.  .\s  time 
went  on  and  new  species  appeared,  the  elephants  spread  from  their  ori<r- 
iiial  hirthplaco  into  Kurope,  Africa,  northeastern  Asia,  and  thence  into 
America  over  a  neck  of  land  which  at  a  comparatively  recent  <;eoio<fi(;al 
period  close<l  np  Uerini.'  strait.  That  such  a  land  connection  existed 
and  that  mammotiis  passed  over  it  appears  to  he  j)roven  from  the  fact 
that  remains  of  these  aiumals  have  heen  found  on  Saint  (Jeorj^e  and 
Saint  Paul  islands,  of  the  I'rihilof  j^roup.  and  on  I'nalaska,  one  of  the 
Aleutian  islands.  The  deepest  part  of  ]{erin<r  strait  is  covered  1>\'  only 
.">(>()  feet  of  water,  and,  since  a  suhsidence  of  mor(>  than  this  amount  has 
taken  |»lace  in  the  Pleistocene  period,  there  is  no  doulit  that  an  isthmus 
connected  the  two  continents  at  no  distant  date,  and  that  men  as  well 
as  mammoths  and  other  aninuiLs  may  hav(^  walked  over  it.  In  the  old 
world,  masto<lons  died  ahout  the  close  of  the  Pliocene,  hut  the  .\mcrican 
species  iM(i.tt<Kli>ii.  itincrirdiin'i)  lived  on,  alontf  with  the  mammotli.  into 
the  human  |>eriod.      Falconer  says  :  ='= 

"  Commencing:  with  tlic  older  strata  of  the  siili-Aiu'iininos  ami  oftlic  \'al  d'Ariio 
and  n.scendlii};  to  the  superficial  gmvels  or  quateriiaiy  deposits  of  coiniuirativt'ly 
modern  orij.'iii,  at  least  four  well  defined  spi'ries  of  fossil  ejepiiants  iiavc  l)i'en  as- 
cei'taini'tl  to  iiave  existe<l  in  Imu'oiic,  namely,  Klii>liii»  {Ijojodon)  imriilioiKiliK,  E. 
u)ili<inuii,  E.  pvliniiji'ii'mx,  anil  E.  (fjii.roiluii)  nfricainix  UikkUIx." 

A  little  turthcr  on  the  same  writer  says  :  f 

"  If  tiie  asserteil  facts  be  correct,  tiiey  seem  dearly  to  indicate  that  the  older 
elephants  of  EnroiH',  sucii  as  E.  mrrididnnlin  and  E.  (iiitii/ini.i,  were  nnt  the  stock.s 
from  which  tlie  later  species,  E.  i»-iiiiiiji')i!iis  ixm]  E.  ii/ririninf,  sprung',  and  that  we 
must  look  elsewhere  for  their  ori<rin.  The  nearest  allinity,  ami  that  a  very  close 
one,  of  the  Kuropean  E.  iinriilloniilis  is  with  the  .Mineene  E.  {Lo.ruilon)  jil((iiil'r<iiix  of 
India,  and  of  E.  in-intiijininn  with  tlie  existing;  Imlian  species." 

Again  Falconer  writes  : ;]: 

"The  result  of  any  observation  is  tliat  the  ancient  mammoth  of  the  prejilacial 

♦  f':iln'()nl(il(i>:ii"il  iiuMiidiis  Mini  notes  dl'  llii-  late  lliigli  Kalioiici',  A.  ^i.,  M.  1).,  viil.  ii,  p.  .i.'il. 
tO)..  eit.,  p.  r.l. 
}  Up.  fit.,  p.  2.VJ. 


I 


I 


1 


i 


KXTINCTION    <»l"    MAMMALS.  'tlit 

'  fon-Hl  lii'd"  iif  tlu'  Norfolk  imi^t  diU'iiH  Ichh  from  tlic  later  foriii,  occiiniiij;  on  llie 
liaiiks  of  the  Lena,  than  iIoch  tlio  latter  from  the  comparatively  moiierii  mammotli 
of  the  siiperlieial  l>oj.'!^  of  North  America,  which  I  rey;ai<l  as  hein;:  only  a  slijiht 
jjeotjraiphical  variety  of  the  same  species." 

Till-.  Extinction  ok  Si'kcii'ic  Foi.  's  ok  Mammals 

F>oin  tlie  firnt  appearance  of  Proljoscideans  to  the  Recent  period,  one 
form  after  another  has  i)asse(l  away,  to  he  succeech.'d  hy  anotlier,  until 
we  have  arrived  at  the  innnediate  precursor  of  the  existiiiji  Indian  ele- 
phant, which  appears  to  lie  spccilically  identical  with  the  niaininoth. 
Falconer  insists  on  the  importance  of  the  fact  that  throu<j:hout  the  whole 
jreolouical  history  of  each  species  of  elephant  there  is  jjircat  persistence 
in  the  .structure  and  mode  of  <i;rowth  of  each  of  the  teeth,  and  that  this 
is  tl  hest  sinjilc  character  hy  which  to  distinj^uish  one  sjiecies  from 
aiic.  'r.  lie  linds.  after  a  critical  examination  of  a  jjreat  numlier  of 
specimens,  that  in  the  manunoth  each  of  the  molars  is  suliject  to  the  same 
history  and  the  same  variation  as  the  correspondin!.':  molar  in  the  livinj^ 
Indian  elephant.^'-  Imcii  if  zoolojjists  a<iree  that  these  two  clei)hants 
hehvnj::  to  the  same  species,  H.  j)riiiilijriilii.-<  is  snlliciently  distinifuishcd  as 
a  w(;ll  marked  variety  to  deserve  rccojjnition  for  all  the  purpt>ses  of  j^oo- 
lojiii-al  description.  No  single  cause  may  account  for  the  extinction  of 
the  m;nnm(»th  all  over  the  world.  .Vs  will  lie  point<'d  out  further  on,  it 
may  have  heen  due  to  the  climatic  changes  in  Siheria.  while  luiman 
airencv  may  have  lieen  the  iinal  cause  in  Europe  ami  North  .\meriea: 
hut  whether  tlu'  Indian  elephant  is  spccilically  identical  with  I'!,  prliui- 
(jiiiiii-'i  or  not,  there  appi'ars  to  he  at  the  present  time  a  jieneral  tendency 
to  extinction  in  the  existing;  form,  as  om;  which  has  run  its  course.  The 
canseof  this  is  not  sipparent,  unless  it  he  owin^  to  {\\v.  well  known  jj;eneral 
law  that  the  higher  species  of  animals  have  a  shorter  term  of  existence 
than  the  lower  ones,  and  that  the  period  of  their  survival  is  somewhat 
proportionate  to  their  rank  in  the  scale  of  heing. 

'Pile  history  of  the  larger  mammals  shows  that  when  the  geograiihical 
range  of  a  species  has  hecome  greatly  diminished,  with  a  '■oi-rcs()onding 
reiluction  in  its  lunnhers,  it  does  not  recover  lost  ground,  hut  hastens  to 
its  end.  These  conditions  now  apply  to  the  Indian  elephant,  whether 
he  represents  the  very  circumscrihed  remnant  of  the  once  almost  cosmo- 
politan mammoth  or  not.  .Another  sign  of  the  approaching  extinction 
of  this  si)ecies  is  its  loss  of  reproductive  vigor,  as  evidenced  hy  the  tact 
that  it  will  scarcely  hreed  at  all  in  the  state  of  domestication. 

.\s  the  mammoth  lived  contemporaneously  in  the  ohl  and  new  worlds 


*Op.  eit.,  p.  KIK. 


^•" """ - 


376      R.  BELL — IIIDHON    BAY    MAMMCJTII    AND    MASTODON    KKMAIXS. 

iifttM-  tlie  fJlac'ial  period,  tliore  could  .scarcely  have  been  a  sudden  clian<i;e 
in  climate  or  conditions  which  would  account  for  its  disappeanince  in 
hoth  hemispheres  about  the  same  time.  The  Indian  si)ecie.s  maintains 
its  existence  in  Mie  original  home  of  the  whole  race  because  the  condi- 
tions favorable  to  Htegodont  elephant  life  proljably  continue  to  be  better 
there  than  anywhere  else. 

Migrations  of  north krn  Mammals 

Popular  writers  on  this  subject  .a))pear  to  associate  the  existence  of 
entire  carca.sses  of  mammoths  about  the  mouth  of  the  Lena  river  with 
the  extinction  of  the  species  all  over  Kurope,  Asia,  and  North  America, 
whereas  this  fact  is  only  a  local  circumstance  in  the  long  history  of  the 
animal. 

The  migration  of  birds  and  mammals,  which  is  so  characteristic  of 
many  species  at  the  i)resent  day,  has  been  going  on  forages.  The  alter- 
nation of  the  seasons  in  the  northern  hemisphere  would  naturally  stimu- 
late and  develop  a  tendency  among  such  creatures  to  move  northward 
and  southward  with  the  changing  temperature  and  food  supply,  and  the 
elephants  would  be  no  exception.  The  reindeer,  with  whose  bones  those 
of  the  mammoth  are  associated  in  Europeaud  .Asia,  retains  its  migratory 
instincts  in  both  the  old  world  and  the  new. 

Hut  the  woodland  varietv  of  this  species  (called  the  caribou  in  Canada) 
is  not  migratory,  and  it  is  possible  and  even  probable  that  there  were 
also  miizratory  and  non-migratory  mammotlis,  according  as  they  in- 
lial)ite(l  (like  the  reindeerj  the  ojx'u  northern  barren  lands  or  the  n)ore 
southern  wooded  country  in  either  the  old  or  the  new  world,  'i'he 
musk-ox  and  the  .\inerican  bison  made  extensive  annual  migrations. 
The  .\rcti(;  fox  travels  hundreds  of  miles  north  and  south  every  year  with 
the  change  of  the  seasons.  The  Canada  lynx  isone  of  the  most  migratory 
of  North  American  mammals,  but  its  movements  are  governed  by  food 
supply  alone,  and  depend  upon  tiic  varying  abundance  or  scarcity  of  its 
j>rincipal  prey,  the  common  American  hare.  Vacw  the  little  htmmings 
pertbrm  wonderful  migrations,  iin|)elled,  as  it  were,  by  an  irresistible 
impulse. 

The  moose  or  .Anufrican  elk  (Alren  <i)i)er!c(uiitx)  migrates  slowly  from 
one  large  area  to  another  through  periods  extending  over  many  years. 
For  example,  in  the  ( iaspe  peninsula  the  last  interval  between  its  leaving 
and  again  returning  to  the  same  district  was  upward  of  half  a  century, 
and  in  the  region  between  the  upper  (Jreat  Lakes  and  .hunes  bay  the  period 
between  his  last  withdrawal  and  reappearance  has  i)een  still  longtT. 
Within  the  historic  period  the  bison  roamed  as  far  east  as  lake  Superior 


(lltAllON    OK    MtinilKKN    MAMMALS. 


377 


I 


and  l.iki'  Krif,  ;iu<l  in  inodern  jicDloLriciii  times  it  nuiirtMl  into  tlu'  tlistant 
iiorihwcst  as  far  as  tlio  Yukon  river,  where,  last  year,  Mr  William  ()j:ilvie 
(ilitaiiied  two  of  its  horns  (  which  1  have  fii'vw)  in  the  <fol(i-hearin<!:  j^ravel 
of  I)onan/a  creek,  in  latituih' fi |°.  '['he  l)iche  or  red  di'er  (('ercii.-<  aiiia- 
ilrnsls  Erxielien)  inhahited  the  St.  [.awrence  valley  eastward  to  the  outlet 
of  lake  Ont.'irio  in  eoniparatively  recent  times,  its  remains  in  a,  <rood  state 
of  preservation  havini^  hei'ii  found  end)edded  in  shell  marl  in  at  li-ast 
two  localities  ntjar  Kintrston.  and  also  in  the  sand  and  gravel  of  Hurlin<i- 
ton  lleiiihts  at  a  depth  of  .'JO  feet  from  tint  surface  and  at  a  height  of 
77  feet  ahove  lake  Ontario.  Thirty  years  a<j;()  it  was  common  in  eastern 
Manitol)a.  hut  now  it  has  retreated  still  further  west.  Such  examples  as 
the  foregoinu;  of  annual  and  lonj^-ptTJod  migrations  favor  the  supposition 
that  the  mammoth,  in  addition  to  its  slower  genciral  movement  of  dis- 
persion to  remote  parts  of  the  earth,  made  annual  mi<;rations  in  rcj^ions 
wliere  such  movements  would  l»e  i»enefieial  to  him  and  mi^dit  naturally 
he  expected,  as  in  northern  Siiieria.  The  averai^e  distance  at  the  present 
day  hetween  the  veri^e  of  the  forest  i;i  nortluM'n  luirope  and'Siheria  and 
the  coast  of  the  .\rctie  sea  is  from  KID  to  'ioD  miles. 

Even  if  the  distance  had  heen  as  great  as  this  at  the  time  when  the 
mammoth  inhahited  these  regions,  which  is  not  prohaltle.  this'animal 
could  easily  move  from  the  forest  to  the  sea  coast  and  i)ack  again  hetween 
spring  and  autumn.  Hut  there  is  evidence  that  the  modern  forest-line 
has  heen  n-treating  southward  in  holh  the  old  and  new  worlds.  This 
tendency  has  prevailed  for  a  great  length  of  time,  as  is  shown  l)y  the 
remains  of  trees  of  existing'  species  on  the  coasts  of  Bering  strait  l»evond 
the  present  limits  of  timlicr.  and  in  Melviih'  island  oil'  the  northern  coast 
of  this  continent,  the  latter  occurring  l)etwcen  oOda'd  (>(K)  miles  directly 
north  of  the  nearest  trees  now  growing  on  the  Coppermiut!  river  and  near 
(ircat  Hear  lake.  The  increased  severity  of  the  seasons  in  (Jreeidaml  in 
historic  times  is  another  evidence  of  the  deterioration  of  the  suharctie 
clinnitc.  whii'ii  app(>ars  to  have  this  tendency  all  round  the  world,  with 
perhaps  ;;  few  local  exceptions,  as  in  one  part  of  northwestern  .Maska, 
due  prolialily  to  a  favorai)le  change  in  the  ix-ean  current  there. 

KxriN(  TIO.N    OK    TMK    MaMMOTU    IN    SlIiKlUA 


The  mannnoth  in  northern  Siheria  prohahly  passed  the  winters  within 
the  forest-line,  where  he  would  find  shelter  from  the  ehilling  winds  and 
where  he  might  live  wtdl,  hrowsjng  on  the  small  hranchy  spruce,  larch, 
hirch,  etcet(>ra.  With  the  advent  of  spring  he  would  l)egin  his  north- 
ward march,  taking  advantage  of  the  long  daylight,  and  he  would  spend 

I.Vl  — Hci.i,.  liKui.  SiK  .  Am.,   \"I,.  !i,   lM!t7 


P>7.S     i{.  I'.KM. — innsoN  p.ay  mammoth    \Nr>  >fAsT(>r><>x  hkmatxs, 

part  of  tlio  suiniiicr  aixl  the  autiiiuii  roving  jil>out  the  short;  of  the  Arctic; 
sea,  eiijoyiriji  tlie  cool  weatlier  and  lindini!;  ahiuuhnit  sust(;nancc  on  the 
small  trees  and  the  alder,  willow,  and  hirch  Iirnshwood.  'I'licn.  with  the 
l)ej^iiniin<f  of  the  severe  weather,  he  would  turn  his  footsteps  toward  his 
winter  quarters  and  move  south  as  the  season  advanced.  Tlie  periods  of 
their  annual  mi<iratit)ns  having  hecome  settled,  it  would  he  dinicult  or 
impossihle  to  overcome  the  inertia  of  long-fixed  hahit,  and  they  would  he 
ohligcd  to  endure  the  increasing  severity  of  the  climatt!  on  tin!  honlers  of 
the  Arctic  sea.  In  the  meantime  their  numl)ers  would  he  greatly  dimin- 
ished from  causes  to  lie  mentioned  .urtlier  on.  At  length,  those  which 
journeyed  as  far  as  the  sea  coast  might  he  reduced  to  the  single  herd 
which  migrated  to  the  mouth  of  the  I-ena,  where  the  climate  of  autumn 
would  he  the  hcst  on  the  coast,  owing  to  the  large  ([Uantity  of  warm  water 
from  the  south  which  accumulates  off  the  mouth  of  this  great  river. 

At  this  stag(\  if  an  unusually  early  and  severe  season  were  to  set  in, 
accompanied  hy  great  snow-storms,  heibre  the  herd  had  started  for  the 
south,  the  result  might  he  disastrous  to  the  remaining  mammoths.  The 
now  stunted  lirush  would  he  covered  hy  the  deep  snow,  on  which  per- 
liaps  a  strong  crust  had  formed,  thus  preventing  the  animals  from  oh- 
taining  any  food,  while  the  almost  continuous  darkness  of  the  early 
winter  would  also  o|ierate  against  them.  The  same  conditions  would 
make  it  dillicult  or  impossilile  for  them  to  travel.  Other  individuals  or 
henls  which  did  not  migrate  so  far  north  may  have  perished  from  a  sim- 
ilar cause  ill  various  parts  of  the  region.  We  know  how  completely 
helpless  the  deer  ol'  any  species  Iiccouk'  in  our  northern  woods  when 
caught  ill  deep  snow  with  a  ciust  u|)oii  it. 

I'lider  circumstances  like  these  the  last  of  the  mammoths  would  soon 
perish,  sinci;  creatures  of  their  organization,  living  upon  such  slightly 
nutriti(»us  food,  must  have  it  continuously  and  in  large  ijuaiitities.  That 
such  a  jiroce.ss  of  starvation  is  not  imaginary,  1  may  mention  the  fact 
that  the  reindeer  sometimes  perish  over  large  areas  in  our  northern  harren- 
lanils  from  this  cause.  Their  lives  depend  upon  a  continuous  supply  of 
the  reindeer-lichen,  which  the\'  ohtain  hy  removing  the  snow  or  hy  find- 
ing the  j)lant  where  the  ground  has  hecn  left  hare  hy  drifting.  A  strik- 
ing instance  of  this  occuri'ed  many  years  ago  on  Akpatok  island,  in  In- 
gava  hay.  This  large  island  had  always  swarmed  with  reiiuleer,  Init  one 
winter,  when  the  snow  was  deeper  than  usual,  rain  fell  upon  it  (an  al- 
most unprecedented  occurrence)  and  formed  a  heavy  and  permanent 
crust  over  hoth  the  hare  ground  and  the  snow,  thus  preventing  the  deer 
from  ohtaiiiing  their  food.  The  coiise(|ueiice  was  that  the  whole  numher 
perished,  and  the  island  has  never  hecn  restocked,     if  this  former  great 


I'RKSKUVATION    OF    >rAMM()Tns    IN    SIHKRIA. 


379 


lienl  liiid  coinprisc'il  tlic  wlioli!  sj)ecies  then  living,  the  reindeer  wuuld 
now  1)0  extinct. 


i 

j 


I 


PUKSKHVATION    OK    Till':    KfJCSH    OF    MaMMOTMS    IX    SiHKKIA 

The  preservation  till  the  |iresent  day  of  the  He.sli  of  sonje  of  the  niam- 
inoths  which  jierished  in  tiie  reuion  ahont  the  mouth  of  the  Lena  river 
and  elsewhere  proves  that  the  carcasses  must  have  lieeome  frozen  imme- 
diately after  death,  and  this  circumstance  may  be  accounted  for  in  the 
following  way:  If  the  last  of  these  creatures  .succumhed  in  the  manner 
supposed,  there  may  have  Ix'en  at  that  time  a  series  of  unusually  cold 
years,  as  sometimes  happens  in  high  latitudes,  and  this,  together  with 
the  increasing  severity  of  the  climate  in  general  ever  since,  would  ac- 
count for  the  preservation  of  some  of  tlieir  carcasses  in  the  snow  and  ice 
which  have  persisted  in  that  region  till  the  present  time. 

The  occurrence  of  large  numhers  of  the  remains  of  mannnoths  in  the 
alluvial  depi>sits  al)out  the  mouth  of  the  Lena  and  otlier  rivers  ma\'  he 
explained  hy  the  supposition  that  the  animals  had  l»roken  tlirough  the 
too  thin  ice  in  attempting  to  cross  the  streams  upon  it  on  tlieir  south- 
Wiird  migration  in  the  autumn,  and  that  their  hodies  liad  subsequently 
floated  down  to  the  still  water.  Indeed,  it  is  liighly  probalile  that  whole 
herds  of  these  animals  lost  their  lives  in  this  manner.  While  the  l>ison 
was  aliiuiilant  in  our  northwest  territories  it  was  a  matter  of  common 
occurrence  for  large  numbers  of  them  to  be  drowned  when  attempting  to 
cross  the  streams  in  coinp.act  droves  before  the  ice  was  strong  enough  to 
bear  the  strain,  'i'he  great  abundance  of  bison  bones  in  some  of  the 
rtuviatile  deposits  in  this  region  is  easily  accounted  for  in  this  way. 

The  mammoths,  owing  to  their  great  weight,  would  be  still  more  liable 
to  such  an  accident.  Professor  Richard  Lydekker,  in  "  The  Royal  Nat- 
ural History,"  lately  published,  speaking  of  the  trade  in  ivory  from 
Siberia,  says  that  within  a  recent  period,  coverimr  twenty  years,  liO.tXJO 
mannnoths  must  have  been  discovered  in  that  region. 

iMPROnABLE    ThKOKIKS 

The  .supposition  that  the  mammoths  of  northern  Siberia  were  frozen 
where  we  lind  them  by  a  sudden  change  from  a  warm  to  a  very  cold 
climate,  and  which  has  remained  permanently  so.  is  as  untenaide  as  the 
other  theory,  which  supposes  the  l)ones  antl  tusks  found  there  to  be  those 
of  mannnoths  which  were  ilrowne(l  in  great  iuimi)ers  and  at  the  same 
time  within  a  limited  area  by  a  sudden  catadys'  "  it  were  possible 

(which  it  is  not)  that  such  an  abrupt  chiingeof  c     •    a-  could  happen,  it 
would  retiuire  to  l>e  general  around  a  great  part  of  the  globe,  and  there 


380       H.   niCIJ, —  Kl'DSON    I'.AY    MAMMOTH    AM)    MASlulxtN    HKMAINS. 

is  no  evuleiice  that  such  a  tliiii);  occurn'd  at  any  time  in  the  history  of 
tlic  earth.  AL'iiin.  to  invoke  tiie  a^eiK  y  of  sudth'n  cntnclysnis  to  account 
for  <;eoloji;iciil  [)henotnena  is  an  explodeil  notion  wliich  does  not  require 
discussion. 

l''ooi)  AMI  oKoiUiAi'iiicAr.  Ra.\<;k  ok  Till-:  MAMMorn 

I'^roin  tlie  remains  of  food  foni\d  witli  the  teetii  and  skeletons  of  tlio 
niasl<>(h)n  and  nianiinotii,  it  lias  l»een  pretty  satisfactorily  ascertained 
that  in  North  America  hoth  of  these  animals  sultsisted  largely  on  the 
twigs  and  Ixtuuhs  of  nortliei'n  trees,  such  as  tlie  spruces  ( Picca)  and  white 
ceihir  {TImjd,  occidentalin),  togetluM",  prolialtly.  witii  those  of  other  north- 
ern trees  and  hushes,  and  no  doulit  the  food  of  the  Sjlicrian  mammoth 
was  of  the  same  nature.  Their  lai'gegrindc^rs  and  powerful  muscles  were 
adnurahly  adapted  to  reduce  such  materials  to  a  jtulp.  IJoth  the  Afri- 
can and  Indian  elephants  are  "  coarse  fee«lers.'' living  principally  upon 
the  hranches  and  hark  of  trees  and  hushes,  and  tlie  mammoth,  wlu'rever 
he  wandered,  would  reipiire  to  sid)sist  upon  such  kimls  of  food  of  this 
(U'scription  as  the  country  he  might  he  in  ]»roduced. 

'*  We  further  know  that  when  the  mammoth  pastured  along  the  mar- 
gins of  the  great  swamps  of  Ohio  and  Kentucky  the  vegetation  then  was 
nearly  identical  with  what  it  is  now.  heing  very  dillerent  from  that  of 
Silteria  "  (Hugh  Kaleoner).  The  same  writer,*  referring  to  FJcphtis  firinii- 
(jcniits,  says  of  it:  "A  scope  in  space  and  time,  taken  together,  lias  heen 
assigned  without  a  parallel,  I  l)elieve,  within  the  whole  range  of  the 
mammalia,  fossil  or  recent.  DWrchiac,  in  liis  excellent  '  Histoire  des 
Progres.'  so  late  as  1.S4S,  gives  a  hrief  summary  of  the  localites  in  which 
the  remains  of  the  mammoth  (A',  prlinhiinins)  have  heen  said  to  occur, 
nanud}',  from  the  British  islands  across  the  whole  of  the  temperate  zone 
of  Europe  and  Asia  and  along  all  the  coasts  and  islands  of  the  IcN'  sea 
as  far  as  the  frozen  cliil's  of  the  east  coast  of  leering  strait,  in  Kschscholtz 
hay,  in  Russian  America  as  high  as  G()°  of  north  latituile,  over  most  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  in  the  great  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
along  the  coasts  of  the  guUdf  Mexico.  De  Ulainville,  going  a  step  he- 
yond  most  of  the  paleontologists,  douhtingly  rttferred  the  fossil  remains 
of  elephants  found  so  ahundantly  in  tropical  India  to  the  same  species- 
thus  assigning  at  least  half  of  the  hal)ital)le  glolu  for  the  pasture  ground 
of  the  mammoth." 

Wooi.LV  Coat  ok  tiii;  Sihkhian  Mammoth 
The  wool  and  long  hair  found  upon  the  Siherian  mammoths  prove 

*  I'^ilM'iiMtolu^irul  iiii'liiniis  :M|i|  Hull's  ot  llii'  l:iti'  lliiifli  l'':ili'ii|ii'r.      I.kIkIiiii,  1.si;n,  Mil.  ji.  p.  77. 


i 


WOOI.I.Y    COAT    (»K    SinKltlAN    MAMMOTH. 


381 


% 


I 


I 


that  they  had  hocii  aocustoiucd  for  a  irroat  h'liirth  of  time  to  ii  sovcre 
cliiiiiite.  Althouf^h  tlic  Indian  eh>|iliiint  inhaltits  a  warm  country,  it  in 
a  well  known  fact  that  he  is  intolerant  of  <i;reat  heat  and  suHers  much 
when  exposed  to  the  direct  rays  of  tlie  sun  in  that  climate.  In  the  wild 
state  he  seeks  the  cool  shade  and  wanders  ahout  at  nitrht  or  in  the  early 
niorninjf. 

Notwith.standinfi  the  lieat  of  the  climate  of  India,  it  has  lately  heen 
discovered  that  the  elephant  of  that  country  retains  trace.s  of  wool  like 
that  which  formerly  clothed  the  mammoth.  The  presence  or  ahsence 
of  wool  or  of  a  thicker  or  thinner  coat  of  hair  or  fur  on  a  mammal  does 
not  often  constitute  an  important  specific  clhvracter.  On  the  hi<;hlands 
of  'i'iliet.  where  the  climate  is  cold  in  winter,  the  domestic  jfoat  and  the 
mastid'  doji  produce  line  wool  under  their  hair.  Fn  Canada  we  have  ex- 
amples of  the  same  kind  of  i^rowtli  in  at  least  two  of  our  coninKtn  mam- 
mals, the  moose  and  the  porcupine.  In  the  country  on  the  south  side 
of  the  Saint  Tifiwrence,  helow  (iuehec,  1  have  seen  (juantities  of  very  fine 
hrown  wool  taken  from  beneath  the  hair  of  moose  killed  in  the  middle 
of  winter,  which  the  French  Canadian  women  were  manufacturiuir  into 
stockin<j:s  and  mittens  of  a  superior  (juality.  The  i)orcupine  ranges  far 
north,  and  in  the  ri\<rion  west  of  lludso;i  hay  he  is  covered  in  winter  witii 
a  ver}-  deep  coat  of  wool,  through  which  his  (piills  and  long  coarse  hairs 
project  liut  a  short  distance.  Further  south  these  animals  have  little  or 
no  wool,  and  in  the  hot  weather  I  hav«!  occasi(tnally  seen  them  entirely 
destitute  of  i)oth  hair  and  (juills,  their  naked  hlack  skins  resembling  that 
of  a  Chinese  dog. 

DlSAI'l'KAltANTK   OK   TIIK    ^^AMM()T^    FROM    ElltOI'K    AND    AmICUICA 

The  mammoth  lived  in  Furope  before  the  (ilacial  period,  and  he  prob- 
ably had  a  wider  range  in  the  same  continent  after  that  epoch.  Hi.s 
final  extinction  in  this  region  may  have  bt'en  due  to  hum:in  agenc\'.  As 
population  increased  and  the  forests  became  traversed  in  all  directions 
by  liighways.  and  after  wide  spaces  hail  been  clearetl  by  dilTi'rent  races 
of  men,  the  mammoths  would  lind  it  diflicult  to  maintain  their  footing. 
They  do  not  appear  to  have  ranged  into  Norway  or  to  the  .southward  of 
the  Pyrenees  and  were  very  rari;  in  Scotland  and  Ireland,  'i'he  geo- 
graphical boundaries  at  that  time  of  certain  kinds  of  trees  which  they 
preferred  for  food  nuiy  have  been  the  cause  of  thus  limiting  their  dis- 
tribution. 

In  North  America  the  last  of  the  mammoths  mav  have  been  killed  off 
by  the  aborigines.     There  is  evidence  that  they  hunted  these  creatures, 


382     u.  r.iM.i, — iiiDsox  v,.\\  mammoth  ani»  mastodon  kkmains. 

and  lU)  (louht  tlicy  did  so  for  food.  Suoh  :i  large  animal  would  al\va3'.s 
he  a  t(!iiiptinu;  oliji'ct  of  tlic  elias(!  to  n  people  dep(Mjdiiiji  for  suhsist- 
ence  almost  entirely  on  the  prodiifL  of  their  li\int.  When  we  see  that 
a  few  years  of  shootinj^  by  foreijjn  sportsnit-n  in  Ahicu  has  reduced  the 
elephants  of  that  fjcreat  continent  to  a  mere  fraction  of  their  former  num- 
hers,  it  is  not  unreasonalde  to  suppose  that  systematic  huntin<^  hy  the 
North  American  Indians  throu<rhout  many  centuries  would  finally  ex- 
terminate the  mannnoth  on  this  continent. 

Habitat  oi'  tiik  Mammopm   i\i"i:ui{i:n  kkom    riiK   Foum  ok  mis  Tusks 

In  hoth  Asia  and  North  America  the  mammoth  proi)ai)ly  [jreferred 
the  open  liarren-lands  or  tundras  to  the  thick  woods,  and  in  this  connec- 
tion the  occurrence  of  its  remains  in  Alaska,  tin;  Yukon  and  M<d\(M)zie 
River  re>i;ion,  in  the  far  northwest  of  Canada,  and  on  the  east  coast  of 
Hudson  l)ay  is  of  much  intensst.  Tin;  irreat  leiiirth  and  the  (loniplete 
curve  of  the  tusks  of  these  animals  slu)w  that  they  were  only  fitted  for 
traveling  in  such  reiiions  or  in  very  open  woods.  They  would  he  able 
to  make  little  or  no  pro<fress  throuj^fh  the  thick  coniferous  forests  of 
Siberia  or  Canada. 

In  18S4  I  ol)>erved  on  Nottingham  island,  in  IFudson  strait,  a  curious 
fa(!t  bearin.i  ou  this  (juestion  in  connection  with  the  antlers  of  the  rein- 
deer. On  the  mainland,  wlicrc  these  deer  may  require  to  traverse  the 
thick  forest  in  some  part  of  their  migrations,  their  antlers,  although 
much  larger  and  longer  than  those  of  the  woodland  reindeer  or  caribou, 
are  straight  at  the  ti[)s  ami  of  such  a  form  as  to  be  readily  dragged 
through  the  branches  of  trees;  but  on  the  large  island  referred  to  there 
are  no  trees  of  any  kind  and  the  antlers  of  the  deer  are  more  spreading, 
while  the  tines  are  strongly  curved  or  hooked.  These  j)eculiarities  may 
be  merely  ornamental  or  they  may  be  of  service  to  the  animal  in  some 
other  way,  liut  it  would  be  impossiirle  for  him  to  get  through  any  t'orest. 
The  peculiarities  of  the  tusks  of  the  mammoth,  which  have  been  already 
referred  to,  would  not  only  prevent  the  creature  from  traveling  in  thick 
woods,  but  they  wt)uld  also  render  the  tusks  useless  for  digging  up  trees, 
which  is  the  principal  use  to  which  l)oth  .\frican  and  Indian  elephants 
put  their  straighter  tusks.  These  characters  would  also  indicate  that 
the  mammoth  was  adapted  only  tor  living  where  it  was  not  necessary  to 
dig  at  the  roots  of  trees  and  to  pull  them  down,  but  in  some  region 
where  he  might  obtain  all  the  l)rush  he  re(|uired,as  lui  could  on  the  ex- 
tensive northern  plains  of  both  continents  in  sunnner,  as  well  as  among 
the  small  branchy  trees  at  the  edge  of  the  forests  in  winter.     The  fact 


j 


!  (»((rHI{KN<  K    NKAU    Sdl'IIIKKN    KNU   or    .lAMKS    IS.AY.  'iSIJ 

tliat  ill  this  haltitiit  tlu;  "irouiiil  woiilM  In-  t'l'D/fii   lor  the  LMratiT  part  <•!" 
the  year  is  another  reason  why  he  would  not  ns(!  iiis  tusivs  lor  (lijr^iing. 

'I'mk  Occi'uuKMK  OK  Mastodon  FIkmains  s\:\u  t\\\:  soitmkhn 

EXTIMCMITY    OK    .IaMKS    Hav 

When  at  moose  factory,  at  the  sontliwestcrn  extremity  of  .lames  l>ay. 
in  tlie  autunni  of  1S77,  I  was  |iresente(l   l)y  MrS.  K.  I'arson,  the  ehief 
j|       factor  in  charj^e,  with  a  very  [KM-fect  tooth  of  a  masto(h)n.  whicli  had 
l)cen  ohtnined  shortly  l»efore  my  visit  in  the  Ix'd  of  the  Moose  river,  at 
its  first  hend  helow  the  junction  of  the  Missinail)i  and  M;»ttiitranii  to  form 
this  trunk  stream.     The  h)cality  is  4(i  mih'S  in  a  strai<^ht  hne  southwest- 
ward  from  moose  factory  and  has  an  elevation  of  al)Out !.")()  feet  aliove  the 
sea.    In  the  middle  of  summer  of  that  year,  the  stream  was  very  low,  and 
an  Indian  passintr  down  in  his  canoe  happiMied  to  see  a  very  larife  l)one, 
which  turned  out  to  ])e  a  mastodon's  jaw,  lyinj^  in  the  shallow  water. 
Settinif  it  on  end  heside  his  canoe,  he  chopped  out  tliis  tootli  with  his 
hatchet,  and  then  allowed  the  jaw  to  drop  hack  into  the  river.     The 
5       molar  is  of  a  medium  size  and  is  very  well  preserved.     It  has  nine  (!on- 
ical  ])oints  or  tulxrcles,  all  of  which  are  entirely  covered  with  enamel. 
At  tlu^  same  time  that  T  ohtained  this  tooth  I  was  informed  hy  .Mr  I'ar- 
son that  some  years  previously  a  party  of  Indians  had  found  some  larjre 
l)ones  in  the  IxmI  of  the  Al)itilii   river,  Ipctwceii  the  lowest  on  Sextant 
rapids  and  its  junction  with  Moose  river.  wlii<-h  occurs  .it  is  miles  ;il>ove 
^        Moose  factory.     From  the  (k'scription,  1  juilized  them  at  tiie  time  to  he 
I       elephantine  remains.     Tlie  Sextant  rapids  :\re  iit  the  upper  end  of  the 
first  stretch  of  the  .Vhitihi  river  after  leaviuu'  its  mouth.     The  superficial 
>i        deposits  are  of  the  .same  character  alonji  this  str(!tch  ;is  on   the  main 
Moos(^  river  for  many  miles  al)ove  and  helow  the  junction   of  tin;  two 
streams. 

Tmk  Pi.kistocknk   Dki'osits  soutiiwkst  ok  Jamks  Hay 

In  order  the  hetter  to  surmise  the  conditions  and  the  f;eolo<;ical  time 
of  the  existence  of  the  mastodon  in  the  region  around  the  southern  ex- 
tremity of  James  hay,  I  should  here  ^ive  a  short  description  of  the  Pleis- 
tocene deposits  and  of  the  <,a'neral  character  of  the  district. 

tiuaternary  clays  eontaininif  recent  marine  shells  extend  as  far,  at 
least,  as  the  Sextitnt  rapids,  and  fragments  of  lignite  washed  out  of  these 
deposits  were  observed  along  the  margins  of  the  river  in  this  section. 

The  upward  general  course  of  Moose  river,  which  is  continued  hv  the 


I)S4       K.    IU;i,l. —  III   DSO.N    HAY     MAMMOTH     A.Mi    MAS'lnlxtN     KKMAINS. 

Missiiiiiibi,  (Voiu  Moose  factory. ■'■  wliicli  staiuls  about  7  miles  in  from  tlie 
moiitli,  is  s(mth\vest  for  I"J7  miles  to  I'ouikI  liay,  at  tlie  foot  of  the  Ar- 
elweau  [)iateau.  where  it  turns  south.  The  rate  of  rise  in  the  river-hed 
from  the  head  of  tide,  1)  miles  aI»ove  Moose  factory,  to  this  point  is  esti- 
mated to  l)e  lietween  .'!  and  \  feet  to  the  mile,  which  would  maki;  the  I'le- 
vation  at  the  iMid  of  this  distance  lietween  400  au<l  oOO  t  feet  ahove  sea- 
level.  In  this  interval  the  river  Hows  with  a  pretty  uniform  and  rather 
swift  current,  interrupted  hy  stony  rapids  here  and  there.  The  hanks 
coiLsLst  exclusively  of  till  autl  stralilieil  drift,  resting  directly  upon  Silu- 
rian and  I)(!Vtuuan  limestones,  which  slope  almost  impereeptil)ly  toward 
the  hay  or  at  only  ahout  the  same  rat<,'  as  tlu'  river-heil  itself. 

The  name  .Moose  river  helon^fs  properly  to  only  thi'  trunk  stream  helow  ^ 
the  junction  of  the  Missinaihi,  or  western  hrancli,  with  the  Matta;.;ann,  o'  ' 
central  hraneh,  at  the  ahove  mentioned  Ki  miles  from  the  factory  ;  hui 
as  the  traveled  route  to  the  Canadian  PacMfn-  railway  follows  the  former 
branch,  it  is  sonuttimes  n^ferred  to  untler  the  same  name.  The  "general 
hei<;ht  of  ihe  cut-banks  of  the  river  increases  from  10  or  -JO  feet  at  .Moo.se 
factory  to  about  140  feet  at  the  end  of  the  1"27  miles  referred  to,  but  often  \ 
for  considerable  distances  tb.e  country  is  lov  on  one  side  or  the  other, 
and  sometimes  on  both  sides.  The  usual  height  of  the  cut-banks  is  from 
oO  to  ")0  or  ()0  feet  4'heir  lower  parts  appear  to  be  composed,  in  most 
cases,  of  blue  clay,  sometimes  soft  and  sticky,  with  or  without  rounded 
pebbles.  The  central  stratum,  which  constitutes  the  major  portion  of  the 
banks,  consists  ol'  liluish-jfray  and  drali  clays,  with  boulders  and  pebbles. 
The  marine  shells  washed  out  of  the  banks  appear  to  i)e  derived  from 
beds  of  pebbly  drab  clays  associated  with  this  division.  The  upper  por- 
tions of  tlie  deposits  consist  of  beds  of  ifravel  and  sand,  with  Itrownish 
gravelly  and  bouldery  earth  towards  the  top. 

The  clays  near  the  mouth  of  the  river  contain  upward  of  a  dozen  spe- 
cies of  marine  shells,  some  of  which  indi(!ate  tolerably  deep  water;  but 
in  as(X'nding  the  stream  the  deep-water  species  disappear,  and  at  last  only      ^ 
the  shore  and  the  shallow-water  shells  remain,  such  as  Snxlcava  rugosa,      i 
Mdcoma  atlaircd,  M.  gm  ahiadka,  ,Ugtll i(s  edalis,  imd  Mj/a  tntncaUi.     Some      | 
of  tlies(!  shells  were  found  as  far  as  IJound  bay,  at  the  extremity  of  the 
long  soutlnvestward  stretch  of  the  riven-  aliove  referred  to.     Marine  shells 
were  also  observe<l  along  the  .Mattagami  from  its  mouth  up  to  the  foot  of 
the  Grand  rapids,  a  distance  of  3!)  miles,  and  at  an  altitude  which  is  prob- 
ably only  a  little  lower  than  that  attained  by  these  shells  on  the  Mi.ssi- 
naibi.     The  species  last  seen  on  the  Missinaihi  were  Saxiaiva  rugosa  and 


*  K;irtiiiy,  tln'  rrsiili'iii'c  of  ii  I'liicf  I'in'lor  or  iinciit. 

t  111  my  liiMiliiitii'iil  Siirvi'v  Ki'|Hiit   for  1M77,  p.  7  (',  ii  Iowit  I'stinintcil  I'lcviiliiin  Wiis  iiicntidiipd, 
liUt  sul)sc(iiic'iil  iilisciv;itiuiis  rcmliT  il  inciliiililc  lliiit  tliis  is  iiiiii'o  nearly  (■(inci'i. 


- 


Pr.KISTOCKNK    SorillWKST    Ol'    .1  A  M  KS    I'.AY.  -M^'t 

}fiti-niiiii  fi(i(iili'<  {Tdliiiii  <ini'iiJnitiVici().  'I'licsf.  witli  ;i  /^c/^/,  wt'i't- also  the 
s|iccit'.s  (tliscrvi.'il  at  tin?  hi;;liest  lo(;aliti('s  on  tlu'  Mattaj^aiiii.  Aloiiji  tlie 
All>aiiy  river,  wliidi  Mows  Into  tlie  western  si(l(!  of  Janies  buy.  iind  also 
on  its  ".'real  soiilln'ni  liram-li.  llir  Keno;fiiini,  the  hanks,  as  well  as  the 
deposits  of  wiiirh  tiiev  are  coniposecl,  are  similar  ti>  those  of  Moose  river 
ami  its  l>ranclies.  I  estimated  the  elevation  of  tiie  hiirhest  and  most  in- 
land locality  at  which  I  found  marine  shells  on  the  Kenoirami  to  he  4-">() 
feet  aliovc  the  se.i*  The  AttawapisUat  is  the  lari^esi  river  tlowin;;  into 
.lames  hay  north  of  the  All>any.  I  surveyed  this  stream  for  upward  of 
;>lll)  nules  from  the  sea,  and  althoU'^di  it  Hows  throULdi  a  level  country 
and  has  low  liaidcs,  1  did  not  detect  marine  shells  at  any  ;j;reat  distance 
iVom  the  head  of  tide. 

.\lthoii;^li  the  existence  of  liunite  //*  s////  in  the  superfn-ial  deposits  of 
the  All>a,ny  and  Ahitihi  rivers  may  he  inferred  from  the  occurrence  of 
loose  pieces  of  it  alonii  their  shores,  heds  of  this  suhstance  have  as  yet 
heen  iioticed  only  on  the  Kenoi:ami  and  the  Missinaihi.  On  the  former 
stream  it  was  louiid  in  the  Ixittom  of  an  old  channel  excavated  in  the 
till  and  attain  lillcd  up  liy  houlder  clay.f  This  hed  contained  sticks  of 
coniferous  woods  and  of  the  canoe  hii'ch.  l>ut  no  animal  remains  were 
deti'cted  in  it. 

.\lon;f  the  Missinaihi,  Ix'ds  of  liunitc  were  seen  at  a  numlier  of  places 
all  the  way  from  the  foot  of  the  Archean  plateau  to  the  junction  of  the 
.Mattajianu.  The  lirst  of  these  was  in  the  west  hank  of  a  southern  hranch 
called  Coal  hrook,  threeciuarters  of  a  mile  from  the  main  river.  This 
l)ed  is  three  feet  or  more  in  thickness,  is  underlaid  hy  soft  sticky  hlue 
clay,  and  overlaid  Ity  ahout  7<'  Icct  of  till,  full  of  small  pelildes,  passiii.ij 
iiilo  t^ravcl  at  the  to[>.  This  liL^niti;  contains  a  little  iron  pyrites,  and 
much  of  it  retains  a  distinct  woo<ly  character.  Some  of  the  llattened 
trunks  emhedded  in  it  arc  two  feet  in  diameter. 

"Oil  the  south  sidiMif  the  river, at  niiit'tci'ii  miles  Ik'Iow  ("oal  lironk^jr  two  miles 
al)ove  WiMiilui'ckei'  islaml,  a  hdri/.oiital  seam  ol'  Hj^iiite  was  found  in  the  midst  of 
a  hank  of  till  IJ't  feet  iiiirh.  It  is  from  !'.  to  L'l  feet  tliick,  and  is  nuule  up  priiici- 
pailv  ofsticksiind  riishes.  I'x'iow  tlie  iij^'iiiti'  are  SO  fi-et  of  yollow-weatherin^  irray 
t'iay  ami  ahove  it  4")  fct'l  of  hliie  clay.  Moth  varieties  of  i;l;iy  are  full  of  pel)l)U's, 
and  they  also  iiold  some  .striated  hDiilders  of  l.uui'cntian  y;iieis^,  Hnroniau  seliiHts, 
an<l  unaltered  Devonian  limestone. 

'W  tiiree  miles  hi-low  Woodpccki-r  island,  or  nine  miles  ahove  the  mouth  of 
( >pa/.atika  river,  another  lied  of  lij.'nite  occurs  in  the  hank  on  the  same  side.  It  is 
six  feet  thick.  l)Ut  ilimiiiishes  to  the  eastward,  and  is  of  a  slialy  character,  heiiig 
made  upof  laniiiiif  of  moss  and  sticks.     Iiniuediately  beneath  the  liijnite  is  a  layer 


*(t(•l)lo^i(■lll  Survey  Ri'port  for  lK71-'7^,  p.  Il'i. 
tOnologiwil  Survey  |{e|ioit  for  1m71-'7'J. 


I.\ll  — lk'1,1,.  (iFui,.  Sdc.   Am.,   Viii..  !l,   18117 


?*  ~  -1  "' jr^*v  .*  ''"1  ■  ■■  * i*  II  ti.  - 


880       H.   ISKI.I. —  III  DSON    r.AV    MAMMOTH     ANH    MASTOIioN    HKMAINS. 

<int'  font  tliick  iif  iiTcirultirly  iiiiii'.'lcd  chiy  iiml  s|Mits  nf  impiii'c  liiriiitc.  Next  Ix-low 
tliiw  arc  4(1  tVi't  of  imstratilii'il  iliil't,  I'lill  lA'  .small  iiclihlcs.  uiidcr  wliicli  art"  a  fi'w 
feet  of  Htrutilk'd  yellDwiHli  saiul  and  ^'lavel.  Ucsliiij;  upon  tlif  li<_'iiitc  ate  live  feet 
of  hard  K-ad-cdloicd  clay,  with  ^it'alMs  and  sjiots  nf  a  ydlnw  colnr  and  layt-rs  of 
H'd,  irray,  (hah,  ami  hull'.  Ahove  all  and  lorniin);  the  tupof  llu-  hank,  <>')  feet  hij:li, 
are  U)  feet  of  hanl  ilrah  clay,  witliHtriatcd  pchhlcHund  HMiall  hoiilder*' and  holding; 
rather  larjic  valvcn  of  ■Si.c/citci  rnijnmi,  M  icdiiii.  fulrnrin  {  'rilliiin  iirtuinid),  and  .'///<( 
Intni'iilii.  Small  si'ams  of  lij^nitu  were  si'un  in  two  |)lai'cs  in  tiic  hank  on  llic  same 
Hi<le  at  and  ayrain  half  a  mile  helow  tlie  foot  of  a  rapid  which  occurs  ahout  six  milcH 
ahove  tlu'  Opa/.atika. 

"  In  the  interval  iu'tween  one  and  l\\>>  miles  ai)ove  this  stream  tlu'  whole  hed  of 
the  river  appears  to  he  underlaid  hy  liu'uite.  When  sounch-d  with  a  heavy  pole,  it 
has  an  j'lastic  feel  and  irives  off  laii^e  volumes  of  i,'as,  which  may  also  lie  si-en  at  any 
time  hul)l)lint{  up  s|)ontane(aisly  here  and  tiiere  all  alon^'  this  part  of  the  river. 
Tliis  phenomenon  has  heen  oliserved  iiy  (he  Indians  from  time  innneinorial,  and 
the  locality  has  rei'eived  the  name  of ''I'lic  I'luhlilinu'  Water.""  * 

At  tlie  foot  oi  tlt(!  loiit;'  |)orta,ii('  <>'i  Missiiiail)!  river,  which  is  tour  and 
ii  hali'iuile.s  within  tho  Archeaii  l>()f(ler,  or  tliat  (listiiiice  soutli  of  Uouiid 
bay,  at  the  head  of  the  loii^  soiitliwe.stwurd  .stretch  al»ove  de.serihed, 
tlu'fe  is  a  eoiisi(h'rah]e  thicisiiess  of  tine  silt  in  thin  layers,  with  moss  and 
remains  (>•"  tVesii-water  inarsli  plants  lietweeii  most  of  them.  'I'lit;  mean 
heic;bt  of  thc!  deposit  is  aliout  '••<)  I'eet  ahovi'  the  level  of  the  highest  oe- 
currenee  of  the  marine  shells  hefore  mentioned,  or  jiroliaidy  aliout  ")5() 
feet  ahove  the  sea.  At  the  time  of  the  postnlaeial  sulimeriienee  tiiis  de- 
po.sit  may  have  iieen  t'orminj;-  at  what  was  then  the  moiitli  of  the  Mis- 
sinail)i  river,  whik^  the  whole  of  the  Paleozoic  plain  lietween  it  ai\d  .lames 
hay  was  covered  hy  thc  sea. 

The  depo.sits  which  have  heen  descrilied  cover  a  very  extensive  dis- 
trict, namely,  thc  low  (U)untry  emhraccnl  liy  a  semicircular  (Uirve  in  the 
•ffeat  .\rchean  plateau,  extending  "JOO  miles  southwest  from  .lames  hay. 
'This  tract  is  all  underlai<l  liy  thc  nearly  horizontal  Silurian  and  Devo- 
nian strata  already  mentioned,  'i'hcsc  rocks  al.'-o  appear  to  form  the 
lloor  of  the  hay  itst'lf,  which  is  ."JOO  nnles  lon;^-  and  l-")!)  miles  wide. 

The  liuiiite  heds  ahove  described  pn>bably  all  belong  to  basins  of  lim- 
ited exttMd.  The  one  which  has  been  reterred  to  a.s  occurring  in  the 
bottom  of  a  drii't-tilletl  valley  which  had  been  excavated  in  older  till  on 
the  Kenogami  river,  and  also  most  of  the  beds  along  the  Mi.<siiiaibi,  are 
of  interglacial  age.  The  seam  which  has  been  mentioned  as  lying  be- 
neath a  thick  stratum  of  till  on  Coal  brook  may  be  of  preglacial  age,  in 
which  case  the  l)lue  clay  below  it  would  also  be  preglacial.  Some  of  the 
higher  beds  of  impure  lignite  further  down  the  .Missinaibi  may  be  post- 

*(ii'i)lui:ii'.'il  Survey   l!i>|i(irl  fur  ls7T-'7.><,  p.  4  V. 


J 


MASToi»()\   i{i:m.\ins   in   MAMIOI'.A. 


887 


placial.     Tlio  .strati(i<'«l  (le|n»sits  with  wliicli  tin-  liiriiitfs  aro  associatcti 
art',  ii)  [lart  at  least,  inariiie,  as  proved  l»y  the  shells  which  they  eontain. 


Pkuidd  wiii:n    riir;  MAsroituN   i.ivkh  iikhk 

'I'he  iiiastoilDiis  jaw  ilesciiiied  almve,  haviiiii  i>een  tdiiiiil  loose  in  the 
lied  of  the  river,  may  liave  heeii  washed  out  of  these  hanks  and  tlius  he 
of  either  iiiterirlaeial  or  postiilacial  date:  init  it  had  not  siillered  any 
wear,  the  tooth  heinii  fresh  and  perfect,  and  it  shows  no  si<rn  of  ahrasion. 
It  has  hoen  inentioneil  that  liiinite  occurs  in  .siln  in  the  hed  of  the  river 
where  the  Jaw  with  this  tooth  was  found. 

'I'his  relic  of  the  mastodon  may  Ix'loUii  to  a  very  recent  period,  per- 
haps to  a  time  suhsequent  to  tlu;  excavation  of  the  river  channel  out  of 
these  liL^nite-itearinu;  clays,  sands,  and  gravels.  Its  most  ancient  possi- 
hle  date  would  I)(!  suhseipient  to  that  of  the  lignite  hed  on  which  it 
rested. 

.MasToOON     KkMAI.NS    KOl'M)    IN    MANiroliA 

Some  years  previous  to  1S.")'5  parts  of  the  skeleton  of  a  larire  mammal, 
which  afterwards  proved  tt>  hclon;j;  to  a.  mastodon,  were  found  hy  In- 
dians in  the  iiottom  of  the  valley  of  Shell  riv(M'.  at  its  junction  with  its 
east  Itranch.  This  stream  is  itself  an  (iastern  hranch  of  the  .Assinilioine- 
and  it  takes  its  rise  in  the  hii^h  ground  to  the  west  of  lake  Wiunipegosis. 
The  river-llat  at  the  spot  where  the  mastodon  remains  were  found  lias 
an  (ilevation  of  ■_*.(•.')()  leet  al>ove  the  sea.  according  to  .Mr  .1.  I>.  Tyrrell.'i- 
The  scapula'  were  the  only  portions  of  thi.s  skeleton  which  ri'ached  Kng- 
land.  and  they  were  examined  l)y  Sir  .loim  llicharilson.  who  at  lirst 
gave  the  species  to  which  they  lielonged  the  provisional  name  of  I'Jtpliic^ 
riqirrlidiiiis,  hut  afterwanls.  on  making  critical  comparisons  with  the 
bones  ol"  other  fossil  elephants,  he  wrt)te  : 

■■'I'lic  |>n)lialiility,  tlicrcfori',  is  that  tlic  Swan  river  (/.  «.,S\\aii  liiver  liislricti 
liiiiies  l)elnn'_'t'cl  to  the  Muxlmlnii  iii(/iiiih  !!>:.  and  thai  the  iaim<'  of  that  s|ifi'ies  must 
he  e\tcii(leil  nortliwanl  in  l{u|)ert's  himl  to  the  lifly-seeoiid  |iaiallel  of  latitinle, 
whiit'  tile  pruvisioiial  <;eu^raj)hical  ilesigiiutioii  of  l-yijihns  vnpi i-liniiint  must  l)e  e.\- 
pinit,'iMl."  t 

l)i;i'osrrs  in  wiiifii  tiik   .Masiohon   I'.onics  wi:iti';  hhni> 

in  1874  I  examined  the  Assinihoine  river  all  the  way  from  Fort  I'elly 
to  Fort  F^llice  and  also  a  part  uf  Shell  river,  and  sent  my  as.si.stant,  iJr 


*  l!«'|)i>i't  (if  tlio  (ifolopir'al  Survoy  ofCuimilii  fur  Lsiiii-'ul,  p.  Viw  K. 

tZ(iolu);y  i.f  111.'  VoVMi?.'  <>(  11.  M.  S,  Ihiiil-l  iluiliiy;  tlif  yi'iU's  IslVM.      I...ii.1m1i.      I.omII    I!,-cvo, 
l.x:.l,  li|..  In|.  HI. 


:!HS 


It.    lilM.I, — llfltSON    liW     \I\MM(»IM    AMI    M.\srol»«»N    KKMAINS. 


.1.  W.  S|>(Mi('fi'.  t'lirtlitr  ii|>  lilt'  liiltcr  .-.ticiiin.  As  the  ml'*'  <>!'  tlu'  (Icposit 
ill  wliicli  tlicsu  iiuistiidtiii  rciiiMiiis  were  luiiiul  iiiid  tlu'  nature  ol'llu'  sur- 
rouiKliii;;  couiitn'  wciv  inipoitaiil  in  connection  wit'.i  the  (liset)very,  1 
qnote  I )r  Spencer's  re|ioi(  to  ine  on  these  points  ;■'• 

"  The  valley  i.f  llie  A>siiiilMiiin'  ailjacciit  to  thai  >>{'  the  Shell  i  ivcr  is  al'uiit  a  mil*' 

wiileaml  sdiiie '.'(Kt  fiTl  .Icep.     The  alluvial  Hat  at  thehotli f  the  valley  is  threc- 

(|iiarters  \>{  a  mile  wiile,  ami  the  hanks  rise  steeply  on  eitlu-r  siile.  Thruiiiih  this 
level  Hat  the  river  pursues  a  meanderiuu;  enurse  from  side  to  wide,  oeeasionally 
leaping;  a  small  rapii I  caused  hy  the  nhslructiou  of  Laureutiaii  houlders.  Twenty 
miles  further  uji,  the  valley  is  nearly  ;!  nnles  wide,  hut  at  this  place,  in  the  hottom 
and  followintr  the  valley  loniritudinally,  there  an-  4  or  5  nericH  of  hills,  risinj;  irrej;- 
ularly  one  ahove  the  other,  till  the  hi>;hest  reaclio  nearly  to  the  level  of  the  plain 
ahove.  iJetween  llii'se  hills  thei-e  are  small  deeji  valleys.  The  western  hank  is 
often  stri'wn  with  ;.'ravel  and  houlders,  while  the  Hats  helow  ai'e  neaily  free  from 
them,  excepting  in  places  alon-j  Mie  hed  of  the  river.  The  sides  of  the  valley  are 
often  dei'|ily  i;or<;ed,  hut  the  ravines  do  not  extend  to  any  j.'real  distance  hack  from 
the  valley.  Many  of  them  appear  to  have  heen  cut  out  hy  the  waters  from  sprinirs. 
Tlu'se  sj)rin<rs  usually  hold  a  consideralde  i|uaMtity  of  iron  in  solution,  anil  I  oh- 
terved  several  places  where  yellow  ochre  was  hein^r  deposited  around  them.  In 
several  localities  on  the  hanks  of  the  .\ssinihoinc  extensive  landslides  are  to  he 
met  with,  sometimes  showinj;  stratitied  deposits  of  clay  or  sand.  The  jjeiu'ral 
course  of  the  .\ssinihoine  river  at  the  iiitlux  of  the  Shell  river  is  nearly  south,  hut 
ahove  this  it  has  a  more  westerly  direction. 

"  I  explored  the  Shell  IJiver  valley  npwaid  for;!(l  miles,  and  Mr  I  la'_'ar  continued 
the  exploration  for  10  nnles  further.  .Moiijr  the  upjier  pa:t  of  this  distance  the 
country  on  either  side  has  usually  a  rollini,'  prairie  character,  while  in  the  lower 
)>ortion  tlu'  ri\ei'  Hows  in  a  valley  nearly  as  wide  ainl  ilee|)  as  that  of  the  Assini- 
boine.  The  izeiieral  course  is  ni'arly  from  the  umth.  At  the  Ik  :i<ls  of  the  valley 
the  river  usually  winds  its  way  to  the  outer  side,  and  on  the  inner  si<le  of  the  curve 
there  is  left  a  terrace  or  series  of  terraces  risiui;  from  the  alluvial  llat  to  the  plain 
ahove.  The  country  is  ucnerally  Wiiii<leil,  except  here  and  there  where  lire>  have 
swept  over  small  areas.  The  Shell  river  is  mticli  more  rapid  than  the  .Vssiuihoiiu', 
and  the  sides  of  the  valley  are  much  more  dei'ply  irort^eil  than  those  of  the  latter 
river.  At  the  landslidi's  aloiij,'  the  Shell  liver  I  oh.'^erved  a  few  stratilii-d  deposits, 
hut  tlu'V  "generally  show  I'd  only  a  hetero<,'eneous  unxture  of  jiravelly  earth,  with 
houltlers.     .     .     . 

"  If  the  rivers  which  now  How  throuirh  them  have  excavated  tliesi;  valleys,  the 
former  must  he  of  i,'reat  anti(|uity.  The  valleysare  yearly  hecominu;  lar<j;er  hy  the 
s|>riiiy;  floods  bearing  away  irreat  i|uaiitities  of  material.  Kverywlu're  alonji  tlie 
river  hanks  there  are  eviileiices  of  former  landslides.  .  .  .  The  deposits  of  the 
Shell  River  valley  freipiently  consist  of  irrej,'ular  ht'ds  of  clay,  with  houlders,  while 
aloiij?  the  alluvial  Hat  of  the  .-VHsinihoine  they  cousi.st  of  rej^idarly  stratitied  clays. 
The  smumits  and  sides  of  the  banks  of  both  streams  are  y;enerally  covered  w  ith 
boulders. 

"  In  the  more  recent  deposits  of  the  Siiell  River  valley  an  Imliau  is  said  to  bavi' 
found,  a  few  years  ago,  some  large  bones,  which  weri'  at  the  time  sent  to  Fort 


■  liepurt  nl'tln'  (iooidnii.-iil  Siu'vi'y  of  (';\u:icl;i  for  I8TI-T.'i,  pp.  .'iN  iiiul  1.3. 


I 


noxKs  (»N  siii:!.i.  i;ivi;i{.  380 

Kllicf  ami  aricrwiiidH  to  Imi^iIiukI.  'I'Iichc  ivniainH  wtTi-  ilesi-rilu'il  to  nu'  l)y  a  niaii 
wliu  had  sci'ii  tlicm,  ami  alxn  tin-  plafi*  wlit'iici-  tlioy  ouiiif.  Tlii'y  iipficar  ti»  liiivtt 
hcfll  laiV'c  i'Iliiii).'li  fn  liavr  lu'loll^rcil  to  I'JIriihiiH." 

Ill  tlicsuiuiiicr  of  ISST  Mr. I.  B. 'rvrroll,  of  tlio  (ieoloiiical  Survoy,  made 
a  fiirtlitT  t'x;uiiin:.ti(»ii  of  Shrll  rivrr.  Ilic  results  of  which  an;  |nihlislu'(l 
ill  the  IU;|t()rl  of  tiii!  hcpiirlMKnit  for  l<SUt)-'l)l.  Ivcfurriiijf  to  those  l)t)iies, 
he  says : 

"  Tlip  Imliaiis  allt'irt'  lliat  at  tliis  pdiiit  (tlie  jmictioii  of  thf  nortli  ami  t-ant 
Idanclics)  lm;;r  Imiii's  wcic  loiunl  at  tiic  Itottoiii  of  a  lamlslidc  ami  were  l)rouj;ht 
to  the  olliccr  ill  I'liai-;.'!' at  l''ort  rdly,  Ky  wiiom  tlicywcrc  fofwanli'il  to  i'",iit;lan(l. 
I  loll.  \V.  .1.  ( 'liiistii  ,  of  j'.rockv  illc,  ( liitario,  wlio  was  in  cliar;;!'  of  l''ort  I'dly  at  tin- 
tiiiu',  informs  inc  thnt  the  hones  were  slioiildcM'-hliKU's,  and  that  in  IHol!,  Hoiiio 
years  after  the  hones  were  iiroii'.'ht  in,  he  visited  the  placo  'and  examined  the 
spot  eari'fnily  wlicre  the  hlades  were  taken  out  of  tlie  river  at  low  water.  A  land- 
slip hail  oeciirre<l  from  tiie  liank  and  earrieil  the  holies  into  the  river.  1  found, 
from  eross-i|uestioiiin!.'  m\  i_'iiide,  tiiat  the  Indians  iiad  colleeted  the  hones  and 
imriit  tlieiii  on  the  hank,  from  superstition,  and  hiiried  what  would  not  hiirn.  1 
exainiiu'd  the  spot  wliorti  they  had  hurled  the  lioiu's,  hut  what  remained  crumbled 
to  pieees  when  toiiehecl.'  "  * 

\\'lieii  traveliiiii  in  tiie  Northwest  territories  in  lS7o  I  was  inforinefl 
tliat  larjre  l)oii>  -•,  supposed  to  he  those  of  eh-phant.-,  had  heen  found  at 
Sand  Iliil  lake,  near  the  (,'Il)o\v  of  the  South  Saskatchewan  river,  and 
also  on  the  surface  of  the  ground  on  W'iiite  Mml  river,  a  small  triiiutary 
of  tiie  .Missouri  on  the  west  side  of  the  Cypress  hills,t  hut  I  have  never 
heen  ahle  to  verify  these  reports. 

DiscovKiUKs  oi'^  Er.Ki'iiANT  RiOM.MNs  i.v  oriiioit  Pakts  ok  C.\N.\I).\ 

Numerous  discoveries  of  remains  of  hoth  mammoths  and  mastodons 
have  heeti  made  at  various  times  durinjj;  the  past  seventy  years  in  the 
province  of  Ontario,  hut  with  one  exception  they  all  occurred  in  tlie 
district  south  of  a  straiL'ht  line  drawn  west  from  'I'oronto  to  the  outlet  of 
lake  Huron.  The  exception  was  the  finding  of  the  greater  part  of  the 
skeleton  of  a  very  large  mammoth  in  a  swamp  on  lot  1),  range  VII,  of 
the  t()wnshi|)  of  .\maranth,  county  of  Wellington,  at  ahout  oO  miles 
northwest  of  Toronto.  .\  tusk  found  with  this  skeleton  was  reported  to 
measure  S  inches  in  diameter  and  14  feet  in  length. 

In  Ontario  the  remains  of  the  ahove  animals  have  always  heen  found 
umler  similar  conditions  and  in  very  recent  ileposits.  In  a  few  instances 
they  have  heen  met  with  in  gravel  and  sand.     At  Burlington  heights,  at 


t  Ui'iHirt  uf  till'  GiMilofjicMl  Sinvoy  of  ('iiiiml:i  fur  I,sT3,  pp.  7:i,  ~l. 
*Op.  cit.,  p.  lii'J  K. 


390 


U.   nVAA. — iriDSON    I5AV    M.UfMOTir    AND    MASTODON    REMAINS. 


the  western  extremity  of  luke  Ontario,  tlie  Ixines  and  tusks  of  a  larL'e 
matnniotli  were  found  in  l.S4Sin  an  ancient  lieacli  deposit. -'IT  feet  helow 
the  surfaee  and  at  an  t'U'vation  of  7<l  feet  aliove  the  hdce;  hut  in  the 
nijijority  of  eases  sueh  remains  liave  lieen  (Hscovered  just  heneatli  the 
surface  of  tlie  L'round  in  cuttiuL'  ditclies  to  drain  swamps,  in  sliell  marl  left 
hy  the  drying-  up  of  small  shallow  lakes,  or  under  thin  coverinjts  of  super- 
ficial loam,  silt,  etcetera.  In  the  province  of  (Juehec  no  traces  of  fossil 
elephants  have  yet  heen  recorded,  as  far  as  the  writer  is  aware. 

In  the  maritime  provinces  the  oidy  discoveries  of  such  relics  yet  made 
consist  of  some  mastodon  hones  which  were  found  in  hanks  of  sand  and 
gravel  in  the  valleys  t)f  Middle  and  Haddeck  river.s,  in  the  central  part 
of  the  island  of  Cape  Breton,  which  forms  i)art  of  Nova  Scotia.  'I'he 
elevation  in  each  case  did  not  extend  50  feet  ahove  tlie  sea,  and  the  two 
localities  are  less  than  20  miles  apart. 


NoTK. — -.Since  the  foreti;oin<r  [jajier  was  in  print  the  writer  has  received 
the  June  nunil)er  of  the  Scottish  (ieojiraphical  MaL^izine.  containinif  Pro- 
fessor .lament  CJeikie's  thoui;htful  article  on  "The  Tundras  an<l  Steppes 
of  Prehistoric  Kurope,"  in  which  he  mid<es  some  remarks  that  are  of  in- 
terest in  confirmation  of  the  manner  in  which  I  have  supposed  that  some 
of  the  mammoths  of  Siheria  had  jterished.  lie  says:  "  We  have  seen 
how  in  existini:  tundras  and  steppes  the  s('mi-<lomesticated  and  wild 
animals  of  these  regions  are  now  and  again  ovfM'whelmed  in  storms  and 
smothered  in  snow.  Now,  similar  catastroph.ies  must  have  happened 
again  and  again  in  tiie  tundras  and  steppes  of  prehistoric  times." 


